Thursday, May 8, 2014

COMMENT: I have had the profound privilege of working abroad most of adult life. As a young Marine in the 1960s serving abroad, in the US Foreign Service as a special agent and Regional Security Officer (RSO), at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington where I traveled to most of the Bank's field offices sprinkled across the Amerícas for some ten years.

Afterwards, post-retirement, I traveled to some 50 countries as an international security consultant.

In all those years of globe-trotting reading the IHT was like being "home."

What a rich, fulfilling life it was, experiencing so many different cultures, peoples, social mores, diverse perspectives and points of view. Wow!

The one constant and predictably newspaper that made me feel as if I were home during all those wonderful years was the INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE (IHT) that was published in several major centers around the globe.

Today, the IHT has been replaced by the INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES which will never measure up to the TRIBUNE.

The "feel," scent and touch of the IHT was something exquisite... almost as if it were a "living" piece of Americana.

Today, I happened to read Ladan Rafii's reminiscent-filled piece entitled, "The Demise of the International Herald Tribune," which appeared in today's issue of THEWORLDPOST," another wonderful publication I was totally unaware of.

Considering that Ms. Rafi has articulated the essence of the IHT so much better than I ever could, I urge all of our readers to read this journalist's description of a news medium that I will miss for the rest of my life.

Please enjoy Ladan's trip down memory lane as much as I did.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ladan-rafii/demise-of-the-internation_b_4394110

About Me

I retired from the US State Department in April 2006, after a career as a special agent, Senior Regional Security Officer (SRSO), director of training, chief investigator of the Cyprus Missing Persons Program, director of security of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and as a senior adviser in the Office of Anti-Terrorism Assistance.
My book, STAYING SAFE ABROAD: TRAVELING, WORKING AND LIVING IN A POST-9/11 WORLD was published in May 2008.
A complete update of STAYING SAFE ABROAD 2015, will be release during early 2015 for the iPad, Kindle and Nook and other e-readers.
I am a former Federal Firearms Dealer (US), a certified NRA pistol instructor and a certified NRA Range Safety Officer.
My career has also included 15 years as an international security consultant; for ten years I served as the security adviser to the Inter-American Development Bank.
I additionally, served six years in the Marines, which included combat service in Vietnam.
I am available for operational assignments, lecturing opportunities and in providing security solutions anywhere in the world.